Improvement in fruit-baskets



L; W. BEEGHER.

Fruit- Baskets.

No. 134,027. Paten ted.Dec.17,1872.

Z falrf Z, IWweler 258/372)?! 7463mm JAM/war UNITED STATES L. \VHEELERBEEOHER, OF NEW HAVEN, OONNEOTIQUT.

IMPROVEMENT lN FRUIT-BASKETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 134,027, dated December17, 1872,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, L. WHEELER BEEGH- ER, of New Haven, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inFruit-Basket; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing the bottom and bent upward toform the sides and secured at the top by a band or hoop.

In this class of baskets it has been customary to slit the strips fromthe top down to the I angle or bottom, in order to attain the requiredspread at the top. Opening this slit to attain this desired spreadbrings a strain on the slit at the angle and frequently causes the woodto split and thus destroy that piece. In this way no inconsiderableamount of material is lost.

The object of my invention is, first, to overcome this difficulty, and,second, to attain a better fitting and position of the hoop at the top.Myinvention consistsin extendingthe slit at each end of the veneer ashort distance into the bottom, past the angle or point where the woodis to be bent.

I In Fig. 3 one of the strips of veneer is represented, the broken linesat aa showing the two points of scoring for the opposite angles at thebottom. At each end one or more slots (2 are formed, running in a shortdistance beyond the scores a. Hence, when the basket is being formed andthe slit is open at the top to give the desired spread, the slit at thean gle yields slightly, sufficient to prevent the splitting which willfrequently occur when the slit stops at the angle.

In the usual construction, the hoopis bent around the top and nailed tothe strips, one hoop upon the inside and another upon the outside, asthe hoops must lie flat or vertical; and, the sides being inclined,neither the inside nor outside hoop will adjust itself to theinclination of the sides. It is, therefore, difficult to give a neatappearance to the upper edge of the basket.

To overcome this dificulty I form a score, 1), near each end of thestrip, about the width of the hoop or a little more, so that when thesidesare turned up and inclined, as in Fig. 4, the extreme upper end maybe bent into a vertical position, and thus allow the inside and outsidehoop to fit vertically upon this bent portion.

I claim as my invention- In the manufacture of fruit-baskets fromveneer, slitting the strips from the end to and extending into thebottom below the angle or score a, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

L. WHEELER EEEoHER.

Witnesses:

A. J. TIBBITS, J. H. SHUMWAY.

